
Class 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT 



No. 51, 



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English- Classic -Series 



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ADAMS^JEFFERSON 



-BY 



Daniel Webster. 



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NEW YORK: 

Clark <fe Maynard, Publishers, 

734 Broadway. 

1885. 



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LANGUAGE LESSONS-GRAMMAR-COMPOSA 



A Complete Course in Two Books Oi 



1. GI\ADED LESSONS IN ENGLI 

168 pages, 16mo. Bound in linen. 

2. HIGHEI^^ LESSONS IN ENGLI! 

288 pages, 16mo. Bound in cloth. 

By Alonzo Reed, A.M., Instructor in English Gramraar i 
lyn Collegiate and Polytechnic Institute ; and Brainerd I 
A.M., Professor of English Language and Literature in 
Collegiate and Polytechnic Institute. 



TWELVE POINTS WHEREIN WE CLAIM THESE WORl'.S TO 

J??a».— The science of the language is made tributary to the a 'fc of 
Every principle is fixed in memory and in practice, by an exhaus\ ive 
posing sentences, arranging and rearranging their parts, contract »J) 
pimctuating, and criticising them. There is thus given a complete c 
nical grammar and composition, more thorougJi and attractive than "f 
were treated separately. 

Grammar and Composition taught together. — We claim th; 
and composition can be better and more economically taught together ( 
rately ; tnat each helps the other and fui-nishes the occasion to teach tne c 
that both can be taught together in the time that would be required for ei 

A. Complete Course in Gramtnar and Composition, in only tu 
—The two books completely cover the ground of grammar and composi 
the time the scholar usually begins the study xmtil it is finished in the Higl 
Academy. 

Method. — The author's method in teaching in these books is as follow 
principles are presented inductively in the "Hints for Oral Instruction, 
instruction is carefully gathered up in brief definitions for the pupil to 
(3) A variety of exercises in analysis, parsing, and composition is given, 
press the principles on the mind of the scholar and compel him to underst: 

jLuthors — I*ractical Teachers . — The books were prepared by m r. 
made a life-work of teaching grammar and composition, and both of t. e 
high positions in their profession. 

Grading.— 'No pains have been spared in grading the books so as to t 
least possible difficulty to the young student. This is very important a 
scarcely be accomplished by any who are not practical teachers. 

Definitions.- -The definitions, principles, and rules are stated in the j 
guage in both books, and cannot be excelled. 

Models for I*a7'sing.—T!he models for parsing are simple, original ar 
of careful attention. 

Si/stem of Diagrams .—The system of diagrams, altliough it forms no 
of the works, is the best extant. The advantage of the use of diagrams is : 
present the analysis to the eye. (2) They are stimulating and helpful to th 
the preparation of his lessons. (3) They enable the teacher to examine th 
a class in about the time he could examine one pupU, if the oral method a 
used. 

Sentences for Analysis. — ^The sentences for analysis have been sele 
great care and are of unusual excellence. 

Questions and Reviews. — There is a more thorough system of ques 
reviews than in any other works of the kind. 

C/ieapncs*.— In introducing these books, there is a great saving of i 
the prices for first introduction, and for subsequent use, are very low. 



CLARK & MAYNARD, Publislier 

734= Broadway, . j^ 



% 



No. 51. 
ENGLISH CLASSIC SERIES. 



Adams and Jefferson. 



DISCOURSE IN COMMEMORATION OF THE LIVES AND SERVICES 
OF JOHN ADAMS AND THOMAS JEFFERSON, DELIVERED IN 
FANEUIL HALL, BOSTON, ON THE 2d OF AUGUST, 1826. 

BY DANIEL WEBSTER. 




EBITED BY 

ALBERT F. BLAISDELL. 

UTHOR OP "outlines FOR THE STUDY OF ENGLISH CLASSJC!>,'' MEMORY QUOTi 

TATIONS. " SHAKESPEARE SPEAKER," ANNOTATED EDITIONS OF " CHRISTMAS 

CAROL," "SKETCH BOOK," ETC., ETC. 



FEB 



NEAV YORK : 

Clark & Mayj^ard, PuBLfSHER^, 

734 Broadway. 



H 1885 j 



Two-Book Series't^ Arithmetics. 

By James B. Thomson, LL.D., author of a Matliematical Course. 

1. FIRST LESSONS IN ARITHMETIC, Oral and Written. 

Fully and handsomely illustrated. For Primary Schools. 144 pp. 
16mo, cloth. 

2. A COMPLETE GRADED ARITHMETIC, Oral and Writ- 

ten, upon the Inductive Method of Instruction. For Schools 
and Academies. 400 pp. 12mo, cloth. 

This entirely new series of Arithmetics by Dr. Thomson has been 
prepared to meet the demand for a complete course in two books. The 
following embrace some of the characteristic features of the books: 

First Lessons.— This volume is intended for Primary Classes. It is 
divided into Six Sections, and each Section into Twenty Lessons. These 
Sections cover the ground generally required in large cities for promotion 
from grade to grade. 

The book is handsomely illustrated. Oral and slate exercises are com- 
bined throughout. Addition and Subtraction are taught in connection, 
and also Multiplication and Division. This is believed to be in accordance 
with the best methods of teaching these subjects. 



Complete Graded,— This book unites in one volume Oral and 
Written Arithmetic upon the inductive method of instruction. Its aim is 
twofold : to develop the intellect of the pupil, and to prepare him for the 
actual business of life. In securing these objects, it takes the most direct 
road to a practical knowledge of Arithmetic. 

The pupil is led by a few simple, appropriate examples to infer for 
himself the general principles upon which the operations and rules depend, 
instead of taking them upon the authority of the author without explana- 
tion. He is thus taught to put the steps of particular solutions into a 
concise statement, or general formula. This method of developing prin- 
ciples is an important feature. 

It has been a cardinal point to make the explanations simple, the steps 
In the reasoning short and logical, and the definitions and rules brief, clear 
and comprehensive. 

The discussion of topics which belong exclusively to the higher depart- 
ments of the science is avoided; while subjects deemed too diflScult to be 
appreciated by beginners, but important for them when more advanced, 
are placed in the Appendix, to be used at the discretion of the teacher. 

Arithmetical puzzles and paradoxes, and problems relating to subjects 
having a demoralizing tendency, as gambling, etc., are excluded. All that 
is obsolete in the former Tables of Weights and Measures is eliminated, and 
the part retained is corrected in accordance with present Jaw and usage. 

Examples for Practice, Problems for Review, and Test Questions are 
abundant in number and variety, and all are different from those in the 
author's Practical Arithmetic. 

The arrangement of subjects is systematic: no principle is anticipated, 
or used in the explanation of another, until it has itself been explained. 
Subjects intimately connected are grouped together in the order of their 
dependence. 

Teachers and School Officers, who are dissatisfied with the Arith- 
metics they have in use, are invited to confer with the publishers. 

Clark &. MAYNARD, Publishers, New York. 

Copyright," \^u^. by Clark £sf Maynard. 



LIFE OP DANIEL WEBSTER. 



Daniel. Webster, one of the greatest orators and statesmen 
that this country ever produced, was born in the town of Salis- 
bury (now known as Franklin), New Hampshire, on the 18th 
of January, 1782. His father, Ebenezer Webster, was a distin- 
guished soldier and officer in the Revolutionary War. After 
the war, he moved with his large family into what was then the 
savage wilds of New Hampshire. He w^as a man of little book- 
learning, but with his strong mind and vigorous frame he be- 
came a sort of intellectual leader in his neighborhood. He was 
appointed a "side-judge" for the county, a place of considera- 
ble influence in those days. His great aim was to educate his 
children to the utmost of his limited ability. Captain Webster 
married Abigail Eastman for a second w^ife. She was a woman 
of more than ordinary intellect, and possessed a force of char- 
acter which was felt throughout the humble circle in which she 
moved. She was ambitious for her two sons, Ezekiel and 
Daniel, that they should excel. The distinction attained by 
both, and especially by Daniel, may well be traced in part to 
her early promptings and judicious guidance. In the last year 
of the Revolutionary War, in the humble house which his 
father had built in the woods on the outskirts of civilization, 
Daniel Webster was born. During his childhood, he was sickly 
and delicate, and gave no promise of the robust and vigorous 
frame which he had in his manhood. It may well be supposed 
that his early opportunities for education were very scanty. 
Because he was frail and delicate, Daniel's parents took great 
pains to send him to the winter schools, oftentimes three miles 
away from home. As an older half-brother said, "Dan was 
sent to school that he might get to know as much as the other 
boys." It is probable that the best part of his early education 
was derived from the judicious and exi^erienced father, and the 
resolute, affectionate and ambitious mother. In those davs 
books were very scarce and Daniel eagerly read every book he 
could find. He was fond of poetry and at the age of twelve 
could repeat from memory the greater part of Watts' "Psalms 
and Hymns." In his " Autobiography " he says : "I remember 
that my father brought home from some of the lower towns 
Pope's Essay on Man, published in a sort of pamphlet. I took 
it, and very soon could repeat it from beginning to end. We 
had so few books, that to read them once or twice was nothing. 
We thought they were all to be got by heart." At the age of 
fourteen, he was sent to Phillips Academy, in Exeter, N. H.. 
but remained only nine months on account of the poverty of 

3 



4 LIFE OF DANIEL WEBSTER. 

the family. The future orator found his greatest trouble at 
Exeter in declaiming. "Many a piece," says Webster "did 
I commit to memory, and recite and rehearse, in my own 
room, over and over again ; yet when the day came, when the 
school collected to hear declamations, when my name was 
called, and I saw all eyes turned to my seat, I could not raise 
myself from it. When the occasion was over, I went home 
and wept bitter tears of mortification." He now studied with 
a clergyman at home and entered Dartmouth College in 1797. 
The familiar story of how young Webster "worked his way" 
through college and the self-denial and rigid economy he exer- 
cised is told in his "Autobiography." After graduation, hard 
pushed for money while studying law, how he took charge of 
an academy at Fryeburg, Maine, for one dollar a day. He paid 
his board by copying deeds and sent his spare money to help 
his brother Ezekiel through Dartmouth. Webster was admit- 
ted to the bar in 1805, began practice in Boscawen, and after- 
wards in Portsmouth. He took a high rank in his profession 
at once, and, in 1812, was elected a member of Congress. In 
1816, he declined a re-election and removed to Boston. In the 
next seven years he worked long and hard in his profession and 
soon established his reputation as one of the ablest lawyers of 
the land. In 1822 he was again sent to Congress and in 1828 he 
was chosen a Senator. He remained in the Senate for twelve 
years, when he was ajjpointed Secretary of State by President 
Harrison. In 1845 he returned to the Senate, and remained 
until 1850, when he became Secretary of State under President 
Fillmore. He resigned his office early in 1852 on account of his 
health and retired to his home by the seaside at Marshfield, 
Mass., where he died October 24 of the same year. 

Daniel Webster is universally acknowledged to be the fore- 
most of constitutional lawyers and of parliamentary debaters, 
and without a peer in the highest realms of classic and patriotic 
oratory. Many of his orations, as the famous Bunker Hill 
Monument orations, the eulogy upon Adams and Jetferson, the 
speech upon the trial of the murderers of Capt. Joseph White, 
the " Reply to Hayne, " and others are universally accepted as 
classics in modern oratory. Physically, Webster was a mag- 
nificent specimen of a man. Such a form, such a face, such a, 
presence, are rarely given to any man. Webster's manner had 
a wonderful impressiveness that intimacy never Avore off. His 
gracious bearing and gentle courtesy made him the delight of 
every person he ever met. His oratory was in perfect keeping 
with the man, gracious, logical, majestic, and often sublime. 
He was by nature free, generous and lavish in his manner of 
living. As a result his own private finances were often much 
embarrassed. His wealthy admirers often tided him over his 
financial straits. Hampered as he was financially, he never 
sullied his great fame or enriched himself or others by political 
jobbery. 



DANIEL WEBSTER, 1782-1852. 

"Who does not rank him as a great American author? Against the 
maxim of Mr, Fox his speeches read well, and yet were good speeches 
—great speeches in delivery. So critically do they keep the right side 
of the line which parts eloquence from rhetoric, and so far do they 
rise above the penury of mere debate, that the general reason of the 
country has enshrined them at once, and forever, among our classics." 
—Mu/us Choate's Eulocjy on Webster. 

" Read his works, and feel what a blessing civil and religious liberty 
is. Read them and feel what a blessing it is to live under a free govern- 
ment. Read them; and if, which God forbid, the obligations of the 
Constitution of your country hang loosely on you, rivet them with his 
thoughts. His giant effort s are embalmed in our school books, enshrined 
with the speeches of Burke, Sheridan, and Chatham, to animate and 
inspire the youth of our country." 

" He has poured the measureless wealth of his own intellect into all 
the schools and colleges of the land. There is scarcely a child in the 
country, tAvelve years old, whose mind has not been enriched by his 
speeches and orations. His speeches are destined to do more to pro- 
mote the great objects of education, to form correct habits of thinking 
and speaking, and to put the rising American race in possession of a 
chastened, eloquent, powerful, literature, than any other instrumen- 
tality of the nineteenth century."— i2et'. Hubbard Winslow. 

" His speech had strength, force and dignity; his composition was 
clear, rational, strengthened by a powerful imagination— in his great 
orations 'the lightning of passion running along the iron links of ar- 
gument.' The one lesson which they teach to the youth of America is 
self-respect, a manly consciousness of power, expressed simply and 
directly— to look for the substantial qualities of the thing, and utter 
them distinctly as they are felt intensely. This was the sum of the art 
which Webster used in his orations."—^. A. Duyckinck. 

"Webster's style is remarkable for clearness of statement. It is 
singularly emphatic. It is impressive rather than brilliant, and occa- 
sionally rises to absolute grandeur. It is evidently formed on the 
higher English models; and the reader conjectures his love of Milton 
from the noble simplicity of his language. Independent of their logi- 
cal and rhetorical merit, these orations are invaluable from the nation- 
a'lity of their tone and spirit. They awaken patriotic reflection and 
sentiment, and are better adapted to wax-n, to enlighten, and to cheet 
the consciousness of the citizen, than any American works, of a didac- 
tic kind, yet produced."— i^T. T. Tuckerman. 

"He was probably the grandest looking man of his time. Wherever 
he went, men turned to gaze at him ; and he could not enter a room 
without having every eye fastened upon him. His face was very strik- 
ing, both in form and color. The eyebrow, the eye, and the dark and 
deep socket in which it glowed, were full of power. His smile was 
beaming, Avarming, fascinating; lighting up his whole face like a sud- 
den sunrise. His voice was rich, deep, and strong, filling the largest 
space without effort, and when under excitement, rising and swel- 
ling into a violence of sound, like the roar of a tempest."— Georg'e S, 
ffilHard. 

5 



REFEREl^CES. 

The ablest and most complete life of Daniel Webster is that written 
by George T. Curtis. It is full of most interesting material. The most 
scholarly article on Webster is the eulogy delivered by George S. Hil- 
liard. For a compact and interesting life, read Lodge's Webster in the 
"American Statesmen Series." A valuable and suggestive essay has 
been written by E, P. Whipple and serves as an introduction to his 
"Webster's Great Speeches.'' The last mentioned work is the best 
and most complete of the various compilations of Webster's works. 
Harvey's Reminiscences of Webster and March's Reminiscences in Con- 
gress are interesting works for general reading. Tefft's Webster and his 
Master-pieces, Banvard's The American Statesman and Harsha's Orators 
and Statesmen contain much popular and interesting matter. 

WHAT TO READ OF WEBSTER. 

The student who wishes to become familiar with the works of Web- 
ster should secure a copy of Whipple's Great Speeches arid Orations of 
TFe&s^er and mark with pencil the best passages in several speeches. 
The "Bunker Hill Monument Orations " are well adapted to elenaen- 
tary study. Extracts from the argument on the " Murder of Capt. 
Joseph White," especially the famous preliminary remarks, are of 
absorbing interest. The Plj-mouth oration, on the " First Settlement 
of New England," has been called a series of eloquent fragments. The 
thoughts are fine, and are expressed in simple and beautiful words. 
The celebrated eulogy upon " Adams and Jeflerson," the speeches on 
the " Character of Washington," the "Landing at Plymouth," and the 
"Addition to the Capitol," should form apart of the education of every 
American school-boy. Next read Mr. Webster's remarks on the death 
of Judge Story and of Jeremiah Mason, and finally the speech on laying 
the corner-stone for the addition to the Capitol in 1851. Of Webster's 
speeches in the United States Senate, the student should become 
familiar with portions of the "Heply to Hayne." It is one of those 
grand speeches which are landmarks in the history of eloquence. The 
speech as a whole has all the qualities M'hich made Mr. Webster a great 
orator. He said that his whole life had been a preparation for the reply 
to Hayne. After selections from these orations and speeches have been 
studied, over and over again, the student will be well prepared to con- 
tinue his studies in Webster with the strictly parliamentary speeches 
and discussions which have become a part of the intellectual life of 
the country. 

WEBSTER AS A MASTER OF ENGLISH STYLE. 

Webster ranks high among the prose writers of the country as a 
master of English style. Like his oratory, his composition is plain, 
natural, easy, strong, dignified, and sometimes very lofty. His 
diction is entirely English. His words are the commonest in the lan- 
guage. They are those that we use in our own homes, and when talk- 
ing with every-day friends. He had a powerful historic imagination, 
and could describe with great vividness, brevity, and force what had 
happened in the past or might happen in the dim future. As a rule, 
his sentences are short, pointed, and easily understood. Mr. Webster 
was a severe critic of his OAvn style, sparing neither time or pains 
in revising and correcting his written orations. Aside from their 

Profound thought and glowing patriotism, his great speeches can 
e read and studied to-day for their style alone, with the deepest 
interest, instruction, and pleasure. The young man who is training 
himself to think and speak on his feet should study Webster if he 
wouldattaintoaperfect clearness of statement, joined to the highest 
skill in argument. He who would become a skilled debater and is 
ambitious "to learn the science of logical defence" should study the 
productionsof this great master of eloquence until they become part 
and parcel of his own intellectual capital. 

6 



ADAMS AND JEFFERSON. 

A Discourse in Commemoration of the Lives and Services of John Adams 

and Thomas Jefferson, Delivered in }ianeuil Hall, Boston, on 

the 2d of August, 1826. 

INTRODUCTORY NOTE. 

On the 4th of July, 1826, John Adams, at Quincy, and Thomas Jeffer- 
son, at Monticello, died within a few hours of each other, each conscious 
of the day that was his last on earth. This extraordinary coincidence, 
which, it has been well said, is unparalleled in history, produced a 
most profound impression throughout the country. Commemorative 
services were everywhere held. In Boston the municipal authorities 
requested Mr. Webster to pronounce a public discourse on the lives and 
services of these great leaders of the Revolution. In compliance with 
this request, the eulogy which is so well known, and the text of which 
is given in the succeeding pages, was delivered August 2, 1826. The 
weather was fine, and the crowd to hear the great orator was immense. 
It was the first time that Faneuil Hall had been draped in mourning. 
Settees had been placed over the whole area of the hall and the large 
platform was occupied by many of the most distinguished men in New 
England. The doors were closed when the procession entered, and 
every part of the hall and galleries was filled. This was a mistake, for 
the crowd on the outside became so noisy and riotous that Mr, Webster 
ordered that the doors should be opened. After the first rush every- 
thing was quiet, and the order during the rest of the performance was 
perfect. 

Mr. Webster spoke in an orator's gown and wore small clothes. He 
was in the perfection of his manly beauty and strength ; his form filledN 
out to its finest proportions, and his beai-ing, as he stood before 
the vast mviltitude, was that of absolute dignity and power. His 
manuscript lay on a small table near him, but he was not once seen 
to refer to it. His manner of speaking was deliberate and command- 
ing. " When became to the passage," says one of the audience, '-on 
eloquence, and to the words, ' It is action, noble, sublime, godlike 
action,' he stamped his foot repeatedly on the stage, his form seemed 
to dilate, and he stood, as that whole audience saw and felt, the per- 
sonification of what he so perfectly described. I never heard him when 
his manner was so grand and appropriate." 

This address, which, in its peculiar strain, as a funeral oration, has 
never been surpassed in the annals of English oratory. Portions of it 

7 



8 ADAMS AND JEFFERSON. 

have been committed to memory by two generations of American 
youth; it is read and admired wherever the English language is 
spoken. 

A few passages here and there in the text have been omitted from 
lack of space. The exact wording has not been changed. 



1. This is an unaccustomed spectacle. For the first time, 
fellow-citizens, badges of mourning shroud the columns and 
overhang the arches of this hall,^ These walls, which were 
consecrated, so long ago, to the cause of American liberty, 
which witnessed her infant struggles, and rung with the 
shouts of her earliest victories, proclaim, now, that distin- 
guished friends and champions of that great cause have 
fallen. It is right that it should be thus. The tears which 
flow, and the honors that are paid, when the founders of the 
republic die, give hope that the republic itself may be im- 
mortal. It is fit that, by public assembly and solemn ob- 
servance, by anthem and by eulogy, we commemorate the 
services of national benefactors, extol their virtues, and ren- 
der thanks to God for eminent blessings, early given and long 
continued, through their agency, to our favored country. 

2. Adams and Jefferson are no more ; and we are assem- 
bled, fellow-citizens, the aged, the middle-aged, and the 
young, by the spontaneous impulse of all, under the author- 
ity of the municipal government, with the presence of the 
Chief Magistrate of the Commonwealth, and others of its 
official representatives, the University,^ and the learned so- 
cieties, to bear our part in those manifestations of respect and 
gratitude which pervade the whole land. Adams and 

1. This hall.— Faneuil Hall, " the cradle of liberty," was for the first 
time on this occasion draped in mourning. This famous building, 
named after Peter Faneuil, was built and given by him to the town of 
Boston in 1740. It was formerly used as a place in which to hold town 
meetings, but in more recent years has been used for popular meetings 
of all kinds, more especially held in commemoration of some great 
event. Many great orators, local and national, have spoken from its 
venerable and inspiring platform. 

2, University.— Harvard University, as is well known, is located in 
Cambridge, a few miles from Boston. Its history is inseparably linked 
with that of Boston, 



ADAMS AXD JEFFERSON. ^ 

Jefferson are no more. On our fiftieth anniversary, the great 
day of national jubilee, in the very hour of public rejoicing, 
in the midst of echoing and re-echoing voices of thanksgiv- 
ing, while their own names were on all tongues, they took 
their flight together to the world of spirits. 

3. If it be true that no one can safely be pronounced happy 
while he lives, if that event which terminates life can alone 
crown its honors and its glory, what felicity is here ! The 
great epic of their lives; how happily concluded! Poetry 
itself has hardly terminated illustrious lives, and finished 
the career of earthly renown, by such a consummation. If 
we had the power, we could not wish to reverse this dispen- 
sation of the Divine Providence. The great objects of life 
were accomplished; the drama was ready to be closed. It 
has closed ; our patriots have fallen ; but so fallen, at such 
age, with such coincidence, on such a day, that we can not 
rationally lament that that end has come, which we knew 
could not be long deferred. 

4. Neither of these great men, fellow-citizens, could have 
died, at any time, without leaving an immense void in our 
American society. They have been so intimately, and for 
BO long a time, blended with the history of the country, and 
especially so united, in our thoughts and recollections, with 
the events of the Revolution, that the death of either would 
have touched the chords of public sympathy. We should 
have felt that one great link, connecting us with former 
times, was broken ; that we had lost something more, as it 
were, of the i)resence of the Revolution itself, and of the act 
of Independence, and were driven on, by another great re- 
move from the days of our country's early distinction, to 
meet posterity, and to mix with the future. Like the mar- 
iner,^ whom the currents of the ocean and the winds carry 
along, till he sees the stars which have directed his course 
and lighted his pathless way descend, one by one, beneath 
the rising horizon, we should have felt that the stream of 
time had borne us onward till another great luminaiy , whose 

3. Like the mariner.— Webster loved dearly all that was prrand in na- 
ture. His similes di'awn from nature are especially worthy of study. 



10 ADAMS AND JEFFERSON. 

light had cheered us and whose guidance we had followed, 
had sunk away from our sight. 

5. But the concurrence of their death on the anniversary 
of Independence has naturally awakened stronger emotions. 
Both had been Presidents, both had lived to great age, both 
were early patriots, and both were distinguished and ever 
honored by their immediate agency in the act of Independ- 
ence. It can not but seem striking and extraordinary, that 
these two should live to see the fiftieth year from the date of 
that act ; that they should complete that year ; and that 
then, on the day which had fast linked for ever their own 
fame with their country's glory, the heavens should open to 
receive them both at once. As their lives themselves were 
the gifts of Providence, who is not willing to recognize in 
their happy termination, as well as in their long continu- 
ance, proofs that our country and its benefactors are objects 
of His care?* 

6. Adams and Jefferson, I have said, are no more. As 
human beings, indeed, they are no more. They are no more, 
as in 1776, bold and fearless advocates of Independence ; no 
more, as at subsequent periods, the head of the government; 
no more, as we have recently seen them, aged and venerable 
objects of admiration and regard. They are no more. They 
are dead. But how little is there of the great and good 
which can die ! To their country they yet live, and live for 
ever. They live in all that i^erpetuates the remembrance of 
men on earth ; in the recorded proofs of their own great 
actions, in the offspring of their intellect, in the deep-en- 
graved lines of public gratitude, and in the respect and 
homage of mankind. They live in their example ; and they 
live, emphatically, and will live, in the influence which 
their lives and efforts, their principles and opinions, now 
exercise, and will continue to exercise, on the affairs of men, 

4. "For days and weeks afterwards, the wonderful event was the only 
topic of conversation. Every one seemed to see the hand of God in 
every one of these singular coincidences. The pulpit made free use of 
the grand event in enforcing the doctrine of a special Providence 
Patriots spoke of it as a lesson to the country in respect to Union, "- 
TefFt's Webstei- and His Master-pieces. 



ADAMS AND JEFFEKSON. 11 

not only in their own country, but throughout the civilized 
world. A superior and commanding human intellect, a 
truly great man, when Heaven vouchsafes so rare a gift, is 
not a temi^orary flame, burning brightly for a while, and 
then giving place to returning darkness. It is rather a 
spark of fervent heat, as well as radiant light, with power to 
enkindle the common mass of human mind ; so that when 
it glimmers in its own decay, and finally goes out in death, 
no night follows, but it leaves the world all light, all on fire, 
from the potent contact of its own si^irit. Bacon ^ died ; but 
the human u^nderstanding, roused by the touch of his mirac- 
ulous wand to a perception of the true philosophy and the 
just mode of inquiring after truth, has kept on its course 
successfully and gloriously. Newton^ died ; yet the courses 
of the spheres are still known, and they yet move on by the 
laws which he discovered, and in the orbits which he saw, 
and described for them, in the infinity of space. 

7. No two men now live, fellow-citizens, perhaps it may 
be doubted w^hether any two men have ever lived in one age, 
who, more than those we now commemorate, have impressed 
on mankind their own sentiments in regard to politics and 
government, infused their own opinions more deeply into 
the opinions of others, or given a more lasting direction to 
the current of human thought. Their work doth not perish 
with them. The tree^ which they assisted to plant will 
flourish, although they water it and protect it no longer; for 
it has struck its roots deep, it has sent them to the very cen- 
ter ; no storm, not of force to burst the orb, can overturn it ; 
its branches spread wide ; they stretch their protecting arms 
broader and broader, and its top is destined to reach the 
heavens. We are not deceived. There is no delusion here. 
No age will come in which the American Revolution will 

5. Bacon.— Francis Bacon,the eminent philosopher and jurist, was born 
in London in 1561, and died in 1626. A very tliorough and interesting 
summary of his life and works may be read in Macaulay's essay. 

6. Newton. — Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727) the most illustrious philoso- 
pher of modern times, whose glory rests mainly upon his purely scien- 
tific works. 

7. Note the beauty of this figure of rhetoric. The boundless ocean, 
the sturdy oak, the glowing sunset, the mountain storm, were favorite 
subjects from whicli Webster took his figures of speech, 



12 ADAMS AND JEFFERSON. 

appear less than it is, one of the greatest events in human 
history. No age will come in which it shall cease to be seen 
and felt, on either Continent, that a mightj^ step, a great 
advance, not only in American affairs, but in human affairs, 
was made on the 4tli of July, 1776. And no age will come, 
we trust, so ignorant or so unjust as not to see and acknowl- 
edge the efficient agency of those we now honor in produc- 
ing that momentous event. 

8. We are not assembled, therefore, fellow-citizens, as men 
overwhelmed with, calamity by the sudden disruption of the 
ties of friendship or affection, or as in despair for the repub- 
lic by the untimely blighting of its hopes. Death has not 
surprised us by an unseasonable blow. AVe have, indeed, 
seen the tomb close, but it has closed only over mature j^ears, 
over long-protracted i3ublic service, over the weakness of 
age, and over life itself only when the ends of living had 
been fulfilled. These suns, as they rose slowly and steadily, 
amidst clouds and storms, in their ascendant, so they have 
not rushed from their meridian to sink suddenly in the west. 
Like the mildness, the serenity, the continuing benignity 
of a summer's day, they have gone down with slow-descend- 
ing, grateful, long-lingering light ; and now that they are 
beyond the visible margin of the world, good omens cheer 
us from ' ' the bright track of their fiery car ! ' ' 

9, There were many points of similarity in the lives and 
fortunes of these great men. They belonged to the same pro- 
fession, and had pursued its studies and its practice, for un- 
equal lengths of time indeed, but with diligence and effect. 
Both were learned and able lawyers. They w^ere natives 
and inhabitants, respectively, of those two of the Colonies 
which at the Revolution w^ere the largest and most power- 
ful, and which naturally had a lead in the political affairs 
of the times. When the Colonies became in some degree 
united, by the assembling of a general Congress, they were 
brought to act together in its deliberations, not indeed at the 
same time, but both at early periods. Each^ had already 

8. To understand and appreciate the many points of similarity in the 
lives and fortunes of Adams and Jefferson, it will, perhaps, be neces- 
sary for the student to brush up his knowledge of American history. 



ADAMS AND JEFFERSON. 13 

manifested his attacliment to tlie cause of tlie country, as 
well as his ability to maintain it, by printed addresses, pub- 
lic sjDeeches, extensive correspondence, and whatever other 
mode could be adopted for the purpose of exposing the en- 
croachments of the British Parliament, and animating the 
people to a manly resistance. Both were not only decided, 
but early, friends of Independence. While others yet 
doubted, they were resolved ; where others hesitated, they 
pressed forward. They were both members of the commit- 
tee for preparing the Declaration of Independence, and they 
constituted the sub-committee appointed by the other mem- 
bers to make the draft. They left their seats in Congress, 
being called to other public employments, at periods not re- 
mote from each other, although one of them returned to it 
afterwards for a short time. Neither of them was of the as- 
sembly of great men which formed the present Constitution, 
and neither was at any time a member of Congress under its 
provisions. Both have been public ministers abroad, both 
Vice-Presidents and both Presidents of the United States. 
These coincidences are now singularly crowned and com- 
pleted. They have died together ; and they died on the an- 
niversary of liberty. 

lO. When many of us were last in this place, fellow-citi- 
zens, it was on the day of that anniversary. We were met 
to enjoy the festivities belonging to the occasion, and to man- 
ifest our grateful homage to our political fathers. We did 
not, we could not here, forget our venerable neighbor of 
Quincy.' We knew that we were standing, at a time of high 
and palmy j)rosperity, where he had stood in the hour of 
utmost peril ; that we saw nothing but liberty and security, 
where he had met the frown of power ; that we were enjoy- 
ing ever;^'thing, where he had hazarded everything ; and 
just and sincere plaudits rose to his name, from the crowds 
which filled this area, and hung over these galleries. He 



9. Venerable neighbor of Quincy. — This little town, near Boston, is the 
home of the celebrated Adams family. It will be Interesting for the 
student to ascertain the various places of trust and honor filled by 
members of this old, rich and talented family. 



14 ADAMS AND JEFFERSON. 

whose grateful duty it was to speak to us/" on that day, of 
the \^rtues of our fathers, had, indeed, admonished us that 
time and years were about to level his venerable frame with 
the dust. But he bade us hope that ' ' the sound of a Nation's 
joy, rushing from our cities, ringing from our valleys, echo- 
ing from our hills, might yet break the silence of his aged 
ear ; that the rising blessings of grateful millions might yet 
visit with glad light his decaying vision." Alas! that vision 
was then closing for ever. Alas ! the silence which was then 
settling on that aged ear was an everlasting silence ! For, 
lo ! in the very moment of our festivities, his freed spirit 
ascended to God who gave it ! Human aid and human solace 
terminate at the grave ; or we would gladly have borne him 
upward, on a nation's outspread hands ; we would have ac- 
comjDanied him, and with the blessings of millions and the 
prayers of millions, commended him to the Divine favor. 

11. While still indulging our thoughts, on the coincidence 
of the death of this venerable man with the anniversary of 
Independence, we learn that Jefferson, too, has fallen ; and 
that these aged patriots, these illustrious fellow-laborers, 
have left our world together. May not such events raise the 
suggestion that they are not undesigned, and that Heaven 
does so order things, as sometimes to attract strongly the at- 
tention and excite the thoughts of men ? The occurrence 
has added new interest to our anniversary, and will be 
remembered in all time to come. 

12. The occasion, fellow-citizens, requires some account of 
the lives and services of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. ^^ 
This duty must necessarily be performed with great brevity, 
and in the discharge of it I shall be obliged to confine my- 
self, principally, to those parts of their history and character 
which belonged to them as public men. 



10. Reference is made to Josiah Qiiincy (1772-1864). He was Mayor of 
Boston from 1823 to 1828, and President of Harvard College from 1829 to 
18i5. 

11. For a readable and brief account of the lives and services of those 
two great men, the subject of this address, read the Life of John Adams, 
by John T. Morse, Jr., and the Life of Thomas Jefferson, by the same 
author, in the "American Statesnien Series."' 



ADAMS AND JEFFERSON. 15 

13. John Adams was born at Quincy, then part of the an- 
cient town of Braintree, on the nineteenth day of October 
(old style), 1735. He was a descendant of the Puritans, his 
ancestors having early emigrated from England, and settled 
in Massachusetts. Discovering in childhood a strong love 
of reading and of knowledge, together with marks of great 
strength and activity of mind, proper care was taken by his 
worthy father to provide for his education. He pursued his 
youthful studies in Braintree, under Mr. Marsh, a teacher 
whose fortune it was that Josiah Quincy, Jr., as well as the 
subjects of these remarks, should receive from him his in- 
struction in the rudiments of classical literature. Having 
been admitted, in 1751, a member of Harvard College, Mr. 
Adams was graduated, in course, in 1755 ; and on the cata- 
logue of that institution, his name, at the time of his death, 
was second among the living Alumni, being preceded only 
by that of the venerable Holyoke.^^ 

14. Choosing the law for his profession, he conunenced and 
prosecuted its studies at Worcester, under the direction of 
Samuel Putnam, a gentleman whom he has himself described 
as an acute man, an able and learned lawyer, and as being 
in large professional practice at that time. In 1758 he was 
admitted to the bar, and entered upon the practice of the law 
in Braintree. He is understood to have made his first con- 
siderable etTort, or to have attained his first signal success, 
at Plymouth, on one of those occasions which furnish the 
earliest opportunity for distinction to many young men of 
the profession, a jury trial, and a criminal cause. His busi- 
ness naturally grew with his reputation, and his residence 
in the vicinity afforded the opportunity, as his growing 
eminence gave the power, of entering on a larger field of 
practice in the capital. In 1766 he removed his residence to 
Boston, still continuing his attendance on the neighboring 
circuits, and not unfrequently called to remote parts of the 
Province. In 1770 his professional firmness was brought to 



12. The venerable Holyoke.— A ph5^sician of great reputation, living 
near Boston, and who died at an advanced age. 



16 ADAMS AXP iEFFERSOX. 

a test of some severity, on the api^lication of the British offi- 
cers and soldiers to undertake tlieir defence, on the trial of 
the indictments found against them on account of the trans- 
actions cf tlie memorable 5tli of Marcli. He seems to have 
tliought, on tliis occasion, that a man can no more abandon 
the proper duties of his profession, than he can abandon 
other duties. The event proved, that, as he judged well for 
his own reputation, so, too, he judged well for the interest 
and permanent fame of his country. The result of that trial 
l^roved, that, notwithstanding tlie high degree of excite- 
ment then existing in consequence of the measures of the 
British government, a jury of Massachusetts would not de- 
prive the most reckless enemies, even the officers of that 
standing army quartered among them, which they so per- 
fectly abhorred, of any part of that protection Avhich the 
law, in its mildest and most indulgent interpretation, affords 
to persons accused of crimes. 

15. Without following Mr. Adams' ]orofessional course 
farther, suffice it to say, that on tlie first establishment of 
the judicial tribunals under tlie authority of the State, in 
1776, he received an offer of the high and responsible station 
of Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Massachusetts. 
But he was destined for another and a different career. 
From early life the bent of his mind was toward politics ; a 
propensity which the state of the times, if it did not create, 
doubtless very much strengthened. Public subjects must 
have occupied the thoughts and filled up the conversation in 
the circles in which he then moved; and the interesting 
questions at that time just arising could not but seize on a 
mind like his, ardent, sanguine, and patriotic. A letter, 
fortunately preserved, written by him at Worcester, so early 
as the 12th of October, 1755, is aj^roof of very comprehensive 
views, and uncommon depth of reflection, in a young man 
not yet quite twenty. In this letter he predicted the trans- 
fer of power, and the establishment of a new seat of empire 
in America; he predicted, also, the increase of population in 
the Colonies ; and anticipated their naval distinction, and 
foretold that all Europe combined could not subdue them. 



ADAMS AND JEFFERSON. 17 

All this is said, not on a public occasion or for effect, but in 
the style of sober and friendly correspondence, as the result 
of his own thoughts. 

16. This prognostication so early in his own life, so early 
in the history of the country, of Independence, of vast in- 
crease of numbers, of naval force, of such augmented power 
as might defy all Europe, is remarkable. It is more remark- 
able that its author should live to see fulfilled to the letter 
what could have seemed to others, at the time, but the ex- 
travagance of youthful fancy. His earliest political feelings 
were thus strongly American, and from this ardent attach- 
ment to his native soil he never departed. 

17. While still living at Quincy, and at the age of twenty- 
four, Mr. Adams was present, in this town, at the argument 
before the Supreme Court respecting Writs of Assistance, and 
heard the celebrated and patriotic speech of James Otis.^^ 
Unquestionably, that was a masterly performance. No 
flighty declamation about liberty, no superficial discussion 
of popular topics, it was a learned, penetrating, convincing, 
constitutional argument, expressed in a strain of high and 
resolute patriotism. He grasped the question then pending 
between England and her Colonies with the strength of a 
lion ; and if he sometimes sported, it w^as only because the 
lion himself is sometimes playful. Its success appears to 
have been as great as its merits, and its impression was 
widely felt. Mr. Adams himself seems never to have lost 
the feeling it produced, and to have entertained constantly 
the fullest conviction of its important efTects. " I do say," 
he observes, " in the most solemn manner, that Mr. Otis's 
Oration against Writs of Assistance breathed into this Nation 
the breath of life. "1* 

18. The citizens of this town conferred on Mr. Adams his 



18. James Otis. (1725-1783.)— Orator and patriot. A man of powerful 
genius and of an impetuous and commanding eloquence. 
14. Nearly all that was known of this celebrated argument, at the time 



Liife of James Otis, p. 61. 



18 ADAMS AND JEFFERSON. 

• 
first political distinction, and clothed him with his first po- 
litical trust, by electing him one of their representatives, in 
1770. Before this time he had become extensively known 
throughout the Province, as well by the part he had acted 
in relation to public affairs, as by the exercise of his profes- 
sional ability. He was among those who took the deepest 
interest in the controversy with England, and, whether in 
or out of the Legislature, his time and talents were alike de- 
voted to the cause. 

19. The time was now at hand, however, when the affairs 
of the Colonies urgently demanded united counsels through- 
out the country. An open rupture with the j^arent state 
appeared inevitable, and it was but the dictate of prudence 
that those who were united by a common interest and a 
common danger should protect that interest and guard 
against that danger by united efforts. A general Congress 
of Delegates from all the Colonies having been proposed and 
agreed to, the House of Representatives, on the 17th of June, 
1774, elected James Bowdoin, Thomas Cushing, Samuel 
Adams, John Adams, and Robert Treat Paine, delegates 
from Massachusetts. This api)ointment was made at Salem, 
where the General Court had been convened by Gos^ernor 
Gage, in the last hour of the existence of a House of Repre- 
sentatives under the Provincial Charter. While engaged in 
this important business, the Governor, having been informed 
of what was passing, sent his secretary with a message dis- 
solving the General Court. The secretary, finding the door 
locked, directed the messenger to go and inform the Speaker 
that the secretary was at the door with a message from the 
Governor. The messenger returned, and informed the sec- 
retary that the orders of the House were that the doors 
should be kept fast ; whereupon the secretary soon after read 
upon the stairs a in'oclamation dissolving the General Court. 
Thus terminated, forever, the actual exercise of the political 
power of England in or over Massachusetts. The four last- 
named delegates accepted their appointments, and took 
their seats in Congress the first day of its meeting, the 5th 
of September, 1774, in Philadelphia. 



ADAMS AND JEFFERSON. 19 

20. The proceedings of the first Congress ^^ are well known, 
and have been universally admired. It is in vain that we 
would look for superior proofs of wisdom, talent, and patriot- 
ism. Lord Chatham ^^ said, that, for himself, he must de- 
clare that he had studied and admired the free states of an- 
tiquity, the master states of the world, but that for solidity 
of reasoning, force of sagacity, and wisdom of conclusion, no 
body of men could stand in preference to this Congress. It 
is hardly inferior praise to say, that no production of that 
great man himself can be i^ronounced superior to several of 
the papers published as the j^roceedings of this most able, 
most firm, most patriotic assembly. There is, indeed, noth- 
ing superior to them in the range of i^olitical disquisition. 
They not only embrace, illustrate, and enforce everything 
which political philosoi)hy, the love of liberty, and the spirit 
of free inquiry had antecedently produced, but they add new 
and striking views of their own, and apply the whole, with 
irresistible force, in support of the cause which had drawn 
them together. 

_ 21. Mr. Adams was a constant attendant on the delibera- 
tions of this body, and bore an active i)art in its important 
measures. He was of the committee to state the rights of 
the Colonies, and of that also which reported the Address to 
the King. 

22. As it was in the Continental Congress, fellow-citizens, 
that those whose deaths have given rise to this occasion 
were first brought together, and called upon to unite their 
industry and their ability in the service of the country, let 
us now turn to the other of these distinguished men, and 
take a brief notice of his life up to the i^eriod when he ap- 
peared within the walls of Congress. 



lo. First Congress.— Read full details of the first Congress— the men 
that composed it and what they did. 

10. Lord Chatham.— Celebrated orator and statesman. Prime Minis- 
ter of England during the reign of George III. Chatham opposed with 
powerful eloquence the oppressive measures adopted bj' the British 
govf rument with regard to the American Colonies. This great man's 
orations are declaimed by each successive generation of school-boys. 



20 ADAMS AND JEFFERSON. 

23. Thomas Jefferson, " descended from ancestors who had 
been settled in Virginia for some generations, was born near 
the spot on wliich he died, in the county of Albemarle, on 
the 2d of April (old style), 1743. His youthful studies w^ere 
pursued in the neighborhood of his father's residence until 
he was removed to the College of William and Mary, the 
highest honors of which he in due time received. Having 
left the College with reputation, he applied himself to the 
study of the law under the tuition of George Wythe, one of 
the highest judicial names of which that State can boast. 
At an early age he was elected a member of the Legislature, 
in which he had no sooner appeared than he distinguished 
himself by knowledge, capacity, and promptitude. 

24. Mr. Jefferson appears to have been imbued with an 
early love of letters and science, and to have cherished a 
strong disposition to pursue these objects. To the physical 
sciences, especially, and to ancient classic literature, he is 
understood to have had a warm attachment, and never en- 
tirely to have lost sight of them in the midst of the busiest 
occupations. But the times were times for action, rather 
than for contemplation. The country was to be defended, 
and to be saved, before it could be enjoyed. Philosophic 
leisure and literary jDursuits, and even the objects of profes- 
sional attention, were all necessarily postponed to the urgent 
calls of the public service. The exigency of the country 
made the same demand on Mr. Jefferson that it made on 
others who had the ability and the disposition to serve it ; 
and he obeyed the call. 

25. Entering with all his heart into the cause of liberty, 
his ability, patriotism, and power with the pen naturally 
drew upon him a large participation in the most important 
concerns. Wherever he was, there was found a soul devoted 
to the cause, power to defend and maintain it, and willing- 
ness to incur all its hazards. In 1774 he pubhshed a "Sum- 
mary View of the Rights of British America," a valuable 



17. Parton's Life of Thomas Jefferson is very interesting reading la 
connection with Mr. Webster's brief svammary. 



ADAMS AND JEFFERSON. 21 

production among those intended to show the dangers which 
threatened the liberties of tlie country, and to encourage the 
people in their defence. In June, 1775, he was elected a 
member of the Continental Congress, as successor to Peyton 
Randolph, who had resigned his place on account of ill 
health, and took his seat in that bodj^ on the twenty-first of 
the same month. 

26. And now, fellow-citizens, without pursuing the biog- 
raphy of these illustrious men farther, for the present, let us 
turn our attention to the most prominent act of their lives, 
their participation in the Declaration of Independence. 

27. Preparatory to the introduction of that important 
measure, a committee, at the head of which was Mr. Adams, 
had reported a resolution, which Congress adopted on the 
10th of May, recommending, in substance, to all the Colo- 
nies which had not already established governments suited 
to the exigencies of their affairs, to adopt such government 
as ivould, in the opinion of the representatives of the people, 
best conduce to the hapiyiness and safety of their constituents 
in particular, and America in general. 

28. This significant vote was soon followed by the direct 
proposition which Richard Henry Lee had the honor to 
submit to Congress, by resolution, on the seventh day of June. 
The published journal does not expressly state it, but there 
is no doubt, I suppose, that this resolution was in the same 
words, when originally submitted by Mr. Lee, as when 
finally passed. Having been discussed on Saturday, the 
8th, and Monday, the 10th of June, this resolution was on 
the last-mentioned day postponed for further consideration 
to the first day of July ; and at the same time it was voted, 
that a committee be appointed to prepare a Declaration to 
the effect of the resolution. This committee was elected by 
ballot, on the following day, and consisted of Thomas Jef- 
ferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, 
and Robert R. Livingstone.^^ 

18. It will be noticed that this committee appointed to prepare a Dec- 
laration was composed of five of the ablest men in the Congress, and in 
the country for that matter. The preceding life as well as the succeed- 
ing career of these five men is an interesting topic for collateral reading. 



22 ADAMS AND JEFFERSON. 

29. It is usual, when committees are elected by ballot, that 
their members should be arranged in order, according to the 
number of votes which each has received. Mr. Jefferson, 
therefore, had received the highest, and Mr. Adams the 
next highest number of votes. The diflference is said to have 
been but of a single vote. Mr. Jefferson and Mr. Adams, 
standing thus at the head of the committee, were requested 
by the other members to act as a subcommittee to prepare 
the draft ; and Mr. Jefferson drew up the paper. The orig- 
inal draft, as brought by him from his study, and submitted 
to the other members of the committee, w^ith interlineations 
in the handwriting of Dr. Franklin, and others in that of 
Mr. Adams, was in Mr. Jefferson's possession at the time of 
his death. 1^ The merit of this paper is Mr. Jefferson's. 
Some changes were made in it at the suggestion of other 
members of the committee, and others by Congress while it 
was under discussion. But none of them altered the tone, 
the frame, the arrangement, or the general character of the 
instrument. As a composition, the Declaration is Mr. Jef- 
ferson's. It is the production of his mind, and the high 
honor of it belongs to him, clearly and absolutely. 

30. It has sometimes been said, as if it were a derogation 
from the merits of this paper, that it contains nothing new; 
that it only states grounds of proceedings, and presses topics 
of argument, which had often been stated and pressed before. 
But it was not the object of the Declaration to produce any- 
thing new. It was not to invent reasons for Independence, 
but to state those which governed the Congress. For great 
and sufficient causes, it w^as proposed to declare Independ- 
ence ; and the proper business of the paper to be drawn was 
to set forth those causes, and justify the authors of the mea- 
sure, in any event of fortune, to the country and to posterity. 
The cause of American Independence, moreover, was now 
to be presented to the world in such a manner, if it might so 



19. A fac-simile of this ever-memorable state paper, as drafted by Mr. 
Jefferson, with the interlineations alluded to in the text, is contained 
in Mr. Jefferson's Writings, Vol. I. p. 146. See, also, in reference to the 
history of the Declaration, the Life and Works of John Adams, Vol. II. 
p. 512, et seq. 



ADAMS AND JEFFERSON. 23 

be, as to engage its sympathy, to command its respect, to 
attract its admiration ; and in an assembly of most able and 
distinguished men, Thomas Jefferson had the high honor of 
being the selected advocate of this cause. To say that he 
performed his great work well, would be doing him injus- 
tice. To say that he did excellently well, admirably well, 
would be inadequate and halting praise. Let us rather say, 
that he so discharged the duty assigned him, that all Amer- 
icans may well rejoice that the work of drawing the title- 
deed of their liberties devolved upon him. 

31. With all its merits, there are those who have thought 
that there was one thing in the Declaration to be regretted ; 
and that is, the asperity and apparent anger with which it 
speaks of the person of the king ; the industrious ability 
with which it accumulates and charges upon him all the 
injuries which the Colonies had suffered from the mother 
country. Possibly some degree of inj ustice, now or hereafter, 
at home or abroad, may be done to the character of Mr. 
Jefferson, if this part of the Declaration be not placed in its 
proper light. Anger or resentment, certainly much less 
personal reproach and invective, could not properly find 
place in a composition of such high dignity, and of such lofty 
and permanent character. 

32. A single reflection on the original ground of dispute 
between England and the Colonies is sufficient to remove 
any unfavorable impression in this respect. 

33. The inhabitants of all the Colonies, while Colonies, 
admitted themselves bound by their allegiance to the king ; 
but they disclaimed altogether the authority of Parliament ; 
holding themselves, in this respect, to resemble the condi- 
tion of Scotland and Ireland before the respective unions of 
those kingdoms with England, when they acknowledged 
allegiance to the same king, but had each its separate legis- 
lature. The tie, therefore, which our Revolution was to 
break did not subsist between us and the British Parlia- 
ment, or between us and the British government in the ag- 
gregate, but directly between us and the king himself. The 
Colonies had never admitted themselves subject to Parlia- 



24 ADAMS AND J*fcFFERSON. 

ment. That was precisely the point of the original contro- 
versy. They had uniformly denied that Parliament had 
authority to make laws for them. There was, therefore, no 
subjection to Parliament to be throw^n off.^" But allegiance 
to the king did exist, and had been uniformly acknowl- 
edged ; and down to 1775 the most solemn assurances had 
been given that it was not intended to break that allegiance, 
or to throw it off. Therefore, as the direct object and only 
effect of the Declaration, according to the principles on w^hich 
the controversy had been maintained on our part, were to 
sever the tie of allegiance which bound us to the king, it 
was properly and necessarily founded on acts of the crown 
itself, as its justifying causes. Parliament is not so much as 
mentioned in the whole instrument. When odious and op- 
pressive acts are referred to, it is done by charging the king 
with confederating with others "in pretended acts of legis- 
lation ; " the object being constantly to hold the king him- 
self directly responsible for those measures which were the 
grounds of separation. Even the precedent of the English 
Revolution was not overlooked, and in this case, as well as 
in that, occasion was found to say that the king had ab- 
dicated the government. Consistency with the principles 
upon which resistance began, and with all the previous state 
papers issued by Congress, required that the Declaration 
should be bottomed on the misgovernment of the king ; and 
therefore it was properly framed with that aim and to that 
end. The king was know^n, indeed, to have acted, as in 
other cases, by his ministers, and with his Parliament ; but 
as our ancestors had never admitted themselves subject either 

20. This question, of the power of Parliament over the Colonies, was 
discussed, with singular ability, by Governor Hutchinson on the one 
side, and the House of Representatives of Massachusetts on the other, 
in 1778. The argument of the House is in the form of an answer to the 
Governor's Message, and was reported by Samuel Adams, and others. 
As the power of the Parliament had been acknowledged, so far at least 
as to affect us by laws of trade, it was not easy to settle the line of dis- 
tinction. It was thought, however, to be very clear, that the charters 
of the Colonies had exempted them from the general legislation of the 
British Parliament. The important assistance rendered by John 
Adams in the preparation of the ansAver of the House to the Message of 
the Governor may be learned from the Life and Works of John Adams, 
Vol. II. p. 311, et seq. 



ABAINLS AND JP:FFERS0N. 25 

to ministers or to Parliament, there were no reasons to be 
given for now refusing obedience to their authority. This 
clear and obvious necessity of founding the Declaration on 
the misconduct of the king himself, gives to that instrument 
its personal application, and its character of direct and 
pointed accusation. 

34. The Declaration having been reported to Congress by 
the committee, the resolution itself was taken up and debated 
on the first day of July, and again on the second, on which 
last day it was agreed to and adopted, in these words : — 

^'■Resolved,, That these united Colonies are, and of right 
ought to be, free and independent States ; that they are ab- 
solved from all allegiance to the British crown, and that all 
political connection between them and the state of Great 
Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved." 

34. Having thus ]3assed the main resolution. Congress j)ro- 
ceeded to consider the reported draught of the Declaration." 
It was discussed on the second, and third, and fourth days 
of the month, in committee of the whole ; and on the last 
of those days, being reported from that committee, it received 
the final approbation and sanction of Congress. It was or- 
dered, at the same time, that copies be sent to the several 
States, and that it be proclaimed at the head of the army. 
The Declaration thus published did not bear the names of 
the members, for as yet it had not been signed by them. It 
was authenticated, like other pai)ers of the Congress, by the 
signatures of the President and Secretary. On the 19th of 
July, as appears by the secret journal, Congress ^^ Resolved^ 
Tliatthe Declaration, i)assed on the fourth, be fairly engrosed 
on parchment, with the title and style of ' The unanimous 
Declaration of the Thirteen United States of America;^ and 
that the same, when engrossed, be signed by every member 
of Congress." And on the second day of August following, 
"the Declaration, being engrossed and compared at the 



21. The story of how the Declaration of Independence was drawn up, 
with much incidental personal matter, together with many pen pic- 
tures of its signers, was given in the current magazines of 1875 and 1876 
—the "Centennial" years. 



26 ADAMS AND JEFFERSON. 

table, was signed by the members." So that it happens, 
fellow-citizens, that Ave pay these honors to their memory" on 
the anniversary of that day (2d of August) on w^hich these 
great men actually signed their names to the Declaration. 
The Declaration was thus made, that is, it passed and was 
adopted as an act of Congress, on the fourth of July ; it was 
then signed, ajad certified by the President and Secretary, 
like other acts. The Fourth of July, therefore, is the anni- 
versary of the Declaration. But the signatures of the mem- 
bers present were made to it, being then engrossed on parch- 
ment, on the second day of August. Absent members after- 
wards signed, as they came in ; and indeed it bears the 
names of some who were not chosen members of Congress 
until after the fourth of July. The interest belonging to 
the subject will be sufficient, I hojDe, to justify these details. ^^ 

36. The Congress of the Revolution, fellow-citizens, sat 
with closed doors, and no report of its debates was ever made. 
The discussion, therefore, which accompanied this great 
measure, has never been preserved, except in memory and 
by tradition. But it is, I believe, doing no injustice to others 
to say, that the general opinion -was, and uniformly has 
been, that in debate, on the side of Independence, John 
Adams had no equal. The great author of the Declaration 
himself has expressed that opinion uniformly and strongly. 
"John Adams," said he, in the hearing of him who has 
now the honor to address you, " John Adams was our colos- 
sus on the floor. Not graceful, not elegant, not always flu- 
ent, in his public addresses, he yet came out with a power 
both of thought and of expression, which moved us from our 
seats." 

37. For the part which he was here to perform, Mr. Adams 
doubtless was eminently fltted. He possessed a bold spirit, 
which disregarded danger, and a sanguine reliance on the 
goodness of the cause, and the virtues of the people, which 



22. The official copy of the Declaration, as engrossed and signed by 
the members of Congress, is framed and preserved in the Hall over the 
Patent-Offi.ce at Washington. 



ADAMS AND JEFFERSON 27 

led him to overlook all obstacles. His character, too, had 
been forraed in troubled times. He had been rocked in the 
early storms of the controversy, and had acquired a decision 
and a hardihood proj^ortioned to the severity of the disci- 
pline which he had undergone. 

38. He not only loved the American cause devoutly, but 
had studied and understood it. It was all familiar to him. 
He had tried his j)owers on the questions which it involved, 
often and in various ways ; and had brought to their con- 
sideration whatever of argument or illustration the history 
of his own country, the history of England, or the stores of 
ancient or of legal learning, could furnish. Every grievance 
enumerated in the long catalogue of the Declaration had 
been the subject of his discussion, and the object of his re- 
monstrance and reprobation. From 1760, the Colonies, the 
rights of the Colonies, the liberties of the Colonies, and the 
wrongs inflicted on the Colonies, had engaged his constant 
attention ; and it has surprised those who have had the op- 
portunity of witnessing it, with what full remembrance 
ahd with what prompt recollection he could refer, in his 
extreme old age, to every act of Parliament affecting the 
Colonies, distinguishing and stating their respective titles, 
sections, and provisions ; and to all the Colonial memorials, 
remonstrances, and petitions, with whatever else belonged 
to the intimate and exact history of the times from that year 
to 1775. It was, in his own judgment, between these years 
that the American people came to a full understanding and 
thorough knowledge of their rights, and to a fixed resolu- 
tion of maintaining them ; and bearing himself an active 
part in all important transactions, the controversy with 
England being then in effect the business of his life, facts, 
dates, and particulars made an impression which was never 
effaced. He was prepared, therefore, by education and dis- 
cipline, as well as by natural talent and natural tempera- 
ment, for the part which he was now to act. 

39. The eloquence of Mr. Adams resembled his general 
character, and formed, indeed, a part of it. It was bold, 
manly, and energetic ; and such the crisis required. When 



28 ADAMS AND JEFFERSON. 

public bodies 2^ are to be addressed on momentous occasions, 
when great interests are at stake, and strong passions excited, 
nothing is valuable in speech farther than as it is connected 
with high intellectual and moral endowments. Clearness, 
force, and earnestness are the qualities which produce con- 
viction. True eloquence, indeed, does not consist in speech. 
It can not be brought from far. Labor and learning may- 
toil for it, but they will toil in vain. Words and phrases 
may be marshaled in every way, but they can not compass 
it. It must exist in the man, in the subject, and in the 
occasion. Affected passion, intense expression, the pomp 
of declamation, all may aspire to it ; they can not reach it. 
It comes, if it comes at all, like the outbreaking of a foun- 
tain from the earth, or the bursting forth of volcanic fires, 
with spontaneous, original, native force. The graces taught 
in the schools, the costly ornaments and studied contrivances 
of speech, shock and disgust men, when their own lives, and 
the fate of their wives, their children, and their country, 
hang on the decision of the hour. Then words have lost 
their power, rhetoric is vain, and all elaborate oratory con- 
temptible. Even genius itself then feels rebuked and sub- 
dued, as in the presence of higher qualities. Then patriot- 
ism is eloquent ; then self-devotion is eloquent. The clear 
conception, outrunning the deductions of logic, the high pur- 
pose, the firm resolve, the dauntless spirit, speaking on the 
tongue, beaming from the eye, informing every feature, and 
urging the whole man onward, right onward to his object, — 
this, this is eloquence ; or rather, it is something greater and 
higher than all eloquence, — it is action, noble, sublime, god- 
like action. 

40. In July, 1776, the controversy had passed the stage of 
argument. An appeal had been made to force, and oppos- 
ing armies were in the field. Congress, then, was to decide 
whether the tie which had so long bound us to the parent 



23. When public bodies, etc.— This celebrated passage on eloquence 
has been a special favorite for declamation and quotation ever since it 
was first spoken by Mr. Webster. It Is worthy of it. 



ADAMS AND JEFFERSON. 29 

state was to be severed at once, and severed forever. All the 
Colonies had signified their resolution to abide by this deci- 
sion, and the i>eople looked for it with the most intense 
anxiety. And surely, fellow-citizens, never, never were 
men called to a more important political deliberation. If we 
contemplate it from the point where they then stood, no 
question could be more full of interest ; if we look at it now, 
and judge of its importance by its effects, it appears of still 
greater magnitude. 

41. Let us, then, bring before us the assembly, which was 
about to decide a question thus big with the fate of empire. 
Let us open their doors and look in upon their deliberations. 
Let us survey the anxious and careworn countenances, let 
us hear the firm-toned voices, of this band of patriots. 

42. Hancock presides over the solemn sitting ; and one of 
those not yet prepared to pronounce for absolute Independ- 
ence is on the floor, and is urging his reasons for dissenting 
from the Declaration. 

" Let us pause ! This step, once taken, can not be retraced. 
This resolution, once passed, will cut off all hope of recon- 
ciliation. If success attend the arms of England, we shall 
then be no longer Colonies, with charters and with privi- 
leges ; these will all be forfeited by this act ; and we shall be 
in the condition of other conquered people, at the mercy of 
the conquerors. For ourselves, we may be ready to run the 
hazard ; but are we ready to carry the coimtry to that length ? 
Is success so probable as to j ustify it ? Where is the military, 
where the naval power, by which we are to resist the whole 
strength of the arm of England, — for she will exert that 
strength to the utmost ? Can we rely on the constancy and 
perseverance of the people ? or will they not act as the peo- 
ple of other countries have acted, and, wearied with a long 
war, submit, in the end, to a worse oppression ? While we 
stand on our old ground, and insist on redress of grievances, 
we know we are right, and are not answerable for conse- 
quences. Nothing, then, can be imputed to us. But if we 
now change our object, carry our pretensions farther, and set 
up for absolute Independence, we shall lose the sympathy 



30 ADAMS AND JEFFERSON. 

of mankind. We shall no longer be defending what we 
possess, but struggling for something which we never did 
possess, and which we have solemnly and uniformly dis- 
claimed all intention of i^ursuing, from the very outset of the 
troubles. Abandoning thus our old ground, of resistance 
only to arbitrary acts of oppression, the nations will believe 
the whole to have been mere pretence, and they will look 
on us, not as injured, but as ambitious subjects. I shudder 
before this resi^onsibility. It will be on us, if, relinquishing 
the ground on which we have stood so long, and stood so 
safely, we now i)roclaim Independence, and carry on the war 
for that object, while these cities burn, these pleasant fields 
whiten and bleach with the bones of their owners, and 
these streams run blood. It will be upon us, it will be upon 
us, if, failing to maintain this unseasonable and ill-judged 
declaration, a sterner despotism, maintained by military 
power, shall be established over our posterity, when we our- 
selves, given up by an exhausted, a harassed, a misled peo- 
ple, shall have ex^Diated our rashness and atoned for our pre- 
sumption on the scaffold." 

It was for Mr. Adams to reply to arguments like these. 
We know his opinions, and we know his character. He 
would commence with his accustomed directness and 
earnestness. 

43. "Sink or swim,^* live or die, survive or perish, I give 
my hand and my heart to this vote. It is true, indeed, that 
in the beginning we aimed not at Independence. But 
there's a Divinity which shapes our ends. The injustice of 



24. Sink or swim, etc.— This famous imaginary speech of John Adams 
is probably the best known and most hackneyed passage in any of 
Webster's orations. The opening lines have even risen to the dignity 
of a familiar quotation. The general belief at the time was that the 
passage was an extract from a speech actually delivered by John 
Adams. It is the best example of the power of Webster's historical 
imagination. No doubt many people believe even to this day that Mr. 
Adams really uttered the words the orator puts into his mouth. It put 
Mr. Webster and the Adams family to some trouble to answer the 
many curious inquiries. See Curtis' Life of Webster, Vol. II. p. 294. 
"The speech was written by me," wrote Mr. "SVebster, in 1846, " in my 
house, in Boston, the day before the delivery of the discourse in Faneuil 
Hall ; a poor substitute, I am sure, if we could now see the speech actu- 
ally m.ade by Mr. Adams on that transcendantly important occasion." 



ADAMS AND JEFFERSON. 31 

England has driven us to arms ; and, blinded to her own 
interest for our good, she has obstinately persisted, till Inde- 
pendence is now within our grasp. We have but to reach 
forth to it, and it is ours. Why, then, should we defer the 
Declaration ? Is any man so weak as now to hope for a 
reconciliation with England, which shall leave either safety 
to the country and its liberties, or safety to his own life and 
his own honor ? Are not you, Sir, who sit in that chair, — 
is not he, our venerable colleague near you, — are you not 
both already the proscribed and predestined objects of pun- 
ishment and of vengeance Y-^ Cut off from all hope of royal 
clemency, what are you, what can you be, while the power 
of England remains, but outlaws? If we postpone Inde- 
pendence, do we mean to carry on, or to give up, the war ? 
Do we mean to submit to the measures of Parliament, Bos- 
ton Port Bill and all ? Do we mean to submit, and consent 
that we ourselves shall be ground to powder, and our coun- 
try and its rights trodden down in the dust ? I know we 
do not mean to submit. We never shall submit. Do we 
intend to violate that most solemn obligation ever entered 
into by men, that plighting, before God, of our sacred honor 
to Washington, when, putting him forth to incur the dan- 
gers of war, as well as the political hazards of the times, we 
promised to adhere to him, in every extremity, with our 
fortunes and our lives ? I know there is not a man here, 
who would not rather see a general conflagration sweep over 
the land, or an earthquake sink it, than one jot or tittle of 
that plighted faith fall to the ground. For myself, having, 
twelve months ago, in this place, moved you, that George 
Washington be appointed commander of the forces raised, 
or to be raised, for defence of American liberty", may my 
right hand forget her cunning, and my tongue cleave to the 
roof of my mouth, if I hesitate or waver in the support I 
give him. 



25. Reference is made to the fact that Gov. Gage exempted John Han- 
cock and Samuel Adam^sfrom the general amnesty and a price was put 
on their heads. 



32 ADAMS AND JEFFERSON. 

44. "The war, then, must go on.^^ We must fight it 
througli. And if the war must go on, wliy i^ut off longer 
the Declaration of Independence? That measure will 
strengthen us. It will give us character abroad. The na- 
tions will then treat with us, which they never can do while 
we acknowledge ourselves subjects, in arms against our sov- 
ereign. Nay, I maintain, that England herself will sooner 
treat for peace with us on the footing of Independence, than 
consent, by repealing her acts, to acknowledge that her 
whole conduct towards us has been a course of injustice and 
oppression. Her pride will be less wounded by submitting 
to that course of things which now predestinates our Inde- 
pendence, than by yielding the points in controversy to her 
rebellious subjects. The former she would regard as the re- 
sult of fortune ; the latter she would feel as her own deep 
disgrace. Why then, why then, Sir, do we not as soon as 
possible change this from a civil to a national war ? And 
since we must fight it through, why not put ourselves in a 
state to enjoy all the benefits of victory, if we gain the 
victory ? 

45. " If we fail, it can be no worse for us. But we shall 
not fail. The cause will raise up armies ; the cause will 
create navies. The people, the people, if we are true to 
them, will carry us, and will carry themselves, gloriously, 
through this struggle. I care not how fickle other people 
have been found. I know the people of these Colonies, and 
I know that resistance to British aggression is dee]) and set- 
tled in their hearts and can not be eradicated. Every Col- 
ony, indeed, has expressed its willingness to follow, if we 
but take the lead. Sir, the Declaration will inspire the peo- 
ple with increased courage. Instead of a long and bloody 
war for the restoration of privileges, for redress of griev- 
ances, for chartered immunities, held under a British king, 

26. All of this imaginary speech is worth special study from Mr. AVeb- 
ster's use of homely, terse, and vigorous Saxon words. The simplicity 
and purity of the style is unsurpassed in modern oi'atory. It is the one 
great secret by which Webster reached the minds of men. This sim- 
plicity was, of course, the natural result of the clearness and vigor of his 
thought. 



ADAMS ANT) JEFFERSON. 33 

set before them the glorious object of entire Independence, 
and it will breathe into them anew the breath of life. Read 
this Declaration at the head of the army ; every sword will 
be drawn from its scabbard, and the solemn vow uttered, to 
maintain it, or to perish on the bed of honor. Publish it 
from the pulpit ; religion will approve it, and the love of 
religious liberty will cling round it, resolved to stand with 
it, or fall with it. Send it to the public halls ; proclaim it 
tliere ; let them hear it who heard the first roar of the 
enemy's cannon ; let them see it who saw their brothers and 
their sons fall on the field of Bunker Hill, and in the streets 
of Lexington and Concord, and the very walls will cry out 
in its support. 

46. " Sir, I know the uncertainty of human aflfairs, but I 
see, I see clearly, through this day's business. You and I, 
indeed, maj- rue it. We may not live to the time when this 
Declaration shall be made good. We may die; die colonists; 
die slaves ; die, it may be, ignominiously and on the scaf- 
fold. Be it so. Be it so. If it be the pleasure of Heaven 

/that my country shall require the poor ottering of my life, 
the victim shall be ready, at the appointed hour of sacrifice, 
come when that hour may. But while I do live, let me 
have a country, or at least the hope of a country, and that a 
free country. 

47. ' ' But whatever may be our fate, be assured, be assured 
that this Declaration will stand. It may cost treasure, and 
it may cost blood ; but it will stand, and it will richly com- 
pensate for both. Through the thick gloom of the present, 
I see the brightness of the future, as the sun in heaven. We 
shall make this a glorious, an immortal day. When we are 
in our graves, our children will honor it. They will cele- 
brate it with thanksgiving, with festivity, with bonfires, 
and illuminations. On its annual return they will shed 
tears, copious, gushing tears, not of subjection and slavery, 
not of agony and distress, but of exultation, of gratitude, 
and of joy. Sir, before God, I believe the hour is come. 
My judgment approves this measure, and my whole heart 
is in it. All that I have, and all that I am, and all that I 



34 ADAMS AND *JEFFER80N. 

hope, in this life, I am now ready here to stake upon it; and 
I leave off as I began, that live or die, survive or perish, I 
am for the Declaration. It is my living sentiment, and by 
the blessing of God it shall be my djing sentiment. Inde- 
pendence now, and Independence for ever." 

And so that day shall be honored, illustrious prophet and 
patriot ! so that day shall be honored, and as often as it re- 
turns, thy renown shall come along with it, and the glory 
of thy life, like the day of thy death, shall not fail from the 
remembrance of men. 

48. It would be unjust, fellow-citizens, on this occasion, 
while we express our veneration for him who is the imme- 
diate subject of these remarks, were we to omit a most 
respectful, affectionate, and grateful mention of those other 
great men, his colleagues, Avho stood with him, and with 
the same spirit, the same devotion, took part in the inter- 
esting transaction. Hancock, ^^ the proscribed Hancock, 
exiled from his home by a military governor, cut off by 
proclamation from the mercy of the crown, — Heaven 
reserved for him the distinguished honor of putting this 
great question to the vote, and of writing his own name first, 
and most conspicuously, on that parchment which spoke 
defiance to the power of the crown of England. There, too, 
is the name of that other proscribed i)atriot, Samuel Adams, 
a man who hungered and thirsted for the Independence of 
his country, who thought the Declaration halted and lin- 
gered, being himself not only ready, but eager, for it, long 
before it was proposed ; a man of the deepest sagacity, the 
clearest foresight, and the profoundest judgment in men. 

27. John Hancock. (1737-1793.)— The distinguished Revolutionary pa- 
triot, exempted fi'om pardon with Samuel Adams in Gov. Gage's proc- 
lamation, June 12, 1775. The fac-simile of his dashing autograph at the 
head of the list of the signers of the Declaration of Independence is 
familiar to every student. Samuel Adams. (1722-1803.)— Foremost of 
the Revolutionary patriots, one of the earliest and most zealous advo- 
cates of the Independence of the Colonies. Elbridge Gerry. (1744-1814.) 
—A signer of the Declaration of Independence and Vice-President ot 
the United States. Warren.— General Joseph Warren, (1741-1775). Phy- 
sician and patriot, killed at the battle of Bunker Hill. Robert Treat 
Paine. (1731-1814.)— Distinguished lawyer and patriot and a signer of 
the Declaration of Independence. These five patriots were born, lived, 
and died inMasaachusetts. 



ADAMS AND JEFFERSON. 35 

And there is Gerry, himself among the earliest and the fore- 
most of the loatriots, found, when the battle of Lexington 
summoned them to common counsels, by the side of War- 
ren ; a man who lived to serve his country at home and 
abroad, and to die in the second place in the government. 
There, too, is the inflexible, the upright, the Spartan char- 
acter, Robert Treat Paine. He also lived to serve his coun- 
try through the struggle, and then withdrew from her coun- 
cils, only that he might give his labors and his life to his 
native State, in another relation. These names, fellow- 
citizens, are the treasures of the Commonwealth ; and they 
are treasures which grow brighter by time. 

49. It is now necessary to resume the narrative, and to 
finish with great brevity the notice of the lives of those 
whose virtues and services we have met to commemorate. 

Mr. Adams remained in Congress from its first meeting 
till November, 1777, when he was appointed Minister to 
France. He proceeded on that service in the February fol- 
lowing, embarking in the frigate Boston^ from the shore of 
his native town, at the foot of Mount Wollaston. The year 
following, he was appointed commissioner to treat of peace 
with England. Returning to the United States, he was a 
delegate from Braintree in the Convention for framing the 
Constitution for this Commonwealth, in 1 780.^8 At the lat- 
ter end of the same year, he again went abroad in the diplo- 
matic service of the country, and was employed at various 
courts, and occupied with various negotiations, until 1788. 
The particulars of these interesting and important services 
this occasion does not allow time to relate. In 1782 he con- 
cluded our first treaty with Holland. His negotiations with 
that rei)ublic, his efforts to persuade the States-General to 
recognize our Independence, his incessant and indefatigable 
exertions to represent the American cause favorably on the 
Continent, and to counteract the designs of its enemies, 
open and secret, and his successful undertaking to obtain 



28. In this Convention he served as chairman of the committee for 
preparing the draft of a Constitution. 



36 ADAMS ANI> JEFFERSON. 

loans on the credit of a Nation yet new and unknown, are 
among his most arduous, most useful, most honorable ser- 
vices. It was his fortune to bear a part in the negotiation 
for peace with England, and in something more than six 
years from the Declaration which he had so strenuously 
supported, he had the satisfaction of seeing the minister 
plenipotentiary of the crow^n subscribe his name to the in- 
strument which declared that his " Britanic Majesty ac- 
knowledged the United States to be free, sovereign, and in- 
dependent. ' ' In these important transactions, Mr. Adams's 
conduct received the marked approbation of Congress and 
of the country. 

50. While abroad,^^ in 1787, he pubUshed his ''Defence of 
the American Constitution ; " a work of merit and ability, 
though composed w^ith haste, on the spur of a particular 
occasion, in the midst of other occupations, and under cir- 
cumstances not admitting of careful revision. The imme- 
diate object of the work was to counteract the weight of 
opinions advanced by several popular European writers of 
that day. 

51. Returning to the United States in 1788, he found the 
new government about going into operation, and was him- 
self elected the first Vice-President, a situation which he 
filled w^ith rej)utation for eight years, at the expiration of 
which he was raised to the Presidential chair, as immediate 
successor to the immortal Washington. In this high station 
he was succeeded by Mr. Jefferson, after a memorable con- 
troversy betw^een their respective friends, in 1801 ; and from 
that i^eriod his manner of life has been known to all who 
hear me. He has lived, for five-and-twenty years, with 
every enjoyment that could render old age happy. Not in- 
attentive to the occurrences of the times, political cares have 
yet not materially, or for any longtime, disturbed hisreiwse. 
In 1820 he acted as Elector of President and Vice-President, 
and in the same year w^e saw him, then at the ageof eighty- 



29. Note.— For a vivid pen picture of the great men and events of the 
Revolution, read the interesting volurae of Letters, written by Abigail 
Adams, the wife of John Adams. 



ADAMS AND JEFFEKSON. 37 

five, a member of the Convention of this Commonwealth 
called to revise the Constitution. Forty years before, he had 
been one of those who formed that Constitution ; and he had 
now the pleasure of witnessing that there was little which 
the people desired to change. ^"^ Possessing all his faculties 
to the end of his long life, with an unabated love of reading 
and contemplation, in the center of interesting circles of 
friendship and affection, he was blessed in his retirement 
with whatever of repose and felicity the condition of man 
allows. He had, also, other enjoyments. He saw around 
him that prosperity and general happiness which had been 
the object of his public cares and labors. No man ever be- 
held more clearly, and for a longer time, the great and ben- 
eficial effects of the services rendered by himselfto his coun- 
try. That liberty which he so early defended, that Inde- 
pendence of which he was so able an advocate and supporter, 
he saw, we trust, firmly and securely established. The pop- 
ulation of the country thickened around him faster, and 
extended wider, than his own sanguine predictions had 
anticipated ; and the wealth, respectability, and power of 
the Nation sprang up to a magnitude which it is quite im- 
possible he could have expected to witness in his day. He 
lived also to behold those principles of civil freedom which 
had been developed, established, and practically applied in 
America, attract attention, command respect, and awaken 
imitation, in other regions of the globe ; and well might, 
and well did, he exclaim, ' ' Where will the consequences of 
the American Revolution end? " 

52. If anything yet remain to fill this cup of happiness, 
let it be added, that he lived to see a great and intelligent 
X^eople bestow the highest honor in their gift where he had 
bestowed his own kindest parental affections and lodged his 
fondest hoi^es.^^ Thus honored in life, thus happy at death, 



30. Upon the organization of this body, loth Isiovember, 1820, John 
Adams was elected its President.- an office which the inlinnitiesofage 
compelled him to decline. 

31. John Quincy Adams, the son of John Adams, was the sixth Presi- 
dent of the United States, from 182.5 to m£K 



38 ADAMS A ND» JEFFERSON. 

he saw the jubilee, and he died ; and with the last prayers 
w^hich trembled on his lips was the fervent supplication for 
his country, ' ' Independence for ever ! " ^^ 

53. Mr. Jefferson, having been occupied in the year^ 1778 
and 1779 in the important service of revising the laws of Vir- 
ginia, was elected Governor of that State, as successor to 
Patrick Henry, and held the situation when the State was 
invaded by the British arms. In 1781 he published his 
Notes on Virginia, a work which attracted attention in 
Europe as w^ell as America, dispelled many misconceptions 
respecting this Continent, and gave its author a place among 
men distinguished for science. In November, 1783, he again 
took his seat in the Continental Congress, but in the May 
following was appointed Minister Plenipotentiary, to act 
abroad, in the negotiation of commercial treaties, with Dr. 
Franklin and Mr. Adams. He proceeded to France, in exe- 
cution of this mission, embarking at Boston ; and that was 
the only occasion on which he e\»er visited this place. In 
1785 he was api)ointed Minister to France, the duties of 
which situation he continued to perform until October, 1789, 
when he obtained leave to retire, just on the eve of that tre- 
mendous revolution which has so much agitated the world 
in our times. Mr. Jefferson's discharge of his diplomatic 
duties was marked by great ability, diligence, and ^Datriot- 
ism ; and while he resided at Paris, in one of the most inter- 
esting periods, his character for intelligence, his love of 
knowledge and of the society of learned men, distinguished 
him in the highest circles of the French capital. No court 
in Europe had at that time in Paris a representative com- 
manding or enjoying higher regard, for pohtical knowledge 
or for general attainments, than the minister of this then 
infant republic. Immediately on his return to his native 
country, at the organization of the government under the 
present Constitution, his talents and experience recom- 
mended him to President Washington for the first office in 



32. For an account of Mr. Webster's last interview with Mr. Adams, 
see March's Jteminiscences of Congress, p. 62, 



ADAMS AND JEFFERSON. 39 

his gift. He was placed at the head of the Department of 
State. In this situation he, also, manifested conspicuous 
abiUty. His correspondence witli tlie ministers of other 
powers residing here, and his instructions to our own diplo- 
matic agents abroad, are among our ablest state papers. A 
thorough knowledge of the laws and usages of nations, j)er- 
fect acquaintance with the immediate subject before him, 
great felicity, and still greater facility in writing, show 
themselves in whatever effort his official situation called on 
him to make. 

54. On the retirement of General Washington from the 
Presidency, and the election of Mr. Adams to that office in 
1797, he was chosen Vice-President. In 1801 he was elected 
President in opposition to Mr. Adams, and re-elected in 1805, 
by a vote approaching towards unanimity. 

55. From the time of his final retirement from public life, 
in 1809, Mr. Jefferson lived as became a wise man. Sur- 
rounded by affectionate friends, his ardor in the i)ursuit of 
knowledge undiminished, with uncommon health and un- 
broken spirits, he was able to enjoy largely the rational 
pleasures of life, and to partake in that public prosperity 
which he had so much contributed to produce. His kind- 
ness and hospitality, the charm of his conversation, the ease 
of his manners, the extent of his acquirements, and, 
especially, the full store of Revolutionary incidents''^ which 
he had treasured in his memory, and which he knew when 
and how to dispense, rendered his abode in a high degree 
attractive to his admiring countrymen, while his high public 
and scientific character drew towards him every intelligent 
and educated traveler from abroad. Both Mr. Adams and 
Mr. Jefferson had the pleasure of knowing that the respect 
which they so largely received was not paid to their official 
stations. They were not men made great by office ; but 
great men, on whom the country for its own benefit had 

33. Mr. Webster paid a visit to Mr. Jefferson in 1824. Notes of Mr. 
Jefferson's conversation during tlais visit, relating graphic incidents 
and anecdotes of the Revolution, are printed in the Appendix to the 
first volume of Curtis' Life of Webstn; page 581, See also sanie volume 
page 222, 



40 ADAMS AND» JEFFERSON. 

conferred office. There was that in them which office did 
not give, and which tlie relinquishment of office did not, 
and could not, take away. In their retirement, in the midst 
of their fellow-citizens, themselves private citizens, they 
enjoyed as high regard and esteem as when filling the most 
important places of public trust. 

56. There remained to Mr. Jefferson yet one other work 
of patriotism and beneficence, the establishment of a uni- 
versity^* in his native State. To this object he devoted years 
of incessant and anxious attention, and by the enlightened 
liberality of the Legislature of Virginia, and the co-opera- 
tion of other able and zealous friends, he lived to see it 
accomiDlished. 

57. Thus useful, and thus respected, passed the old age of 
Thomas Jefferson. But time was on its ever-ceaseless wing, 
and was now bringing the last hour of this illustrious man. 
He saw its apiDroach with undisturbed serenity. He counted 
the moments as they passed, and beheld that his last sands 
were falling. That day, too, was at hand which he had 
helped to make immortal. One wish, one hope, if it were 
not presumptuous, beat in his fainting breast. Could it be 
so, might it please God, he would desire once more to see the 
sun, once more to look abroad on the scene around him, on 
the great day of liberty. Heaven, in its mercy, fulfilled that 
prayer. He saw that sun, he enjoyed its sacred light, he 
thanked God for this mercy, and bowed his aged head to 
the grave. 

58. The last i^ublic labor of Mr. Jefferson naturally sug- 
gests the expression of the high praise which is due, 
both to him and Mr. Adams, for their uniform and zealous 
attachment to learning, and to the cause of general knowl- 
edge. Of the advantages of learning, indeed, and of literary 



84. Mr. Jefferson himself considered his services in establisliing the 
University of Virginia as among the most important rendered by him 
to the country. In jNIr. Wirt's Eulogy, it is stated that a private mem- 
orandum was found among his papers, containing the following inscrip- 
tion to be placed on his monument: " Here was buriedThomas Jeffer- 
son, Author of the Declaration of Independence, of the Statutes of Vir- 
ginia for Religious Fi-eedom, and Father of the University of Virginia." 



ADAMS AND JEFFERSON. 41 

accoraplishments, their own characters were striking recom- 
mendations and illustrations. They were scholars, ripe and 
good scholars ; widely acquainted with ancient, as well as 
modern literature, and not altogether uninstructed in the 
deeper sciences. Their acquirements, doubtless, were differ- 
ent, and so were the particular objects of their literary pur- 
suits ; as their tastes and characters, in these respects, dif- 
fered like those of other men. Being, also, men of busy 
lives, with great objects requiring action constantly before 
thera, their attainments in letters did not become showy or 
obtrusive. Yet I would hazard the opinion, that, if we 
could now ascertain all the causes which gave them em- 
inence and distinction in the midst of the great men with 
whom they acted, we should find not among the least their 
early acquisitions in literature, the resources which it 
furnished, the promptitude and facility which it com- 
municated, and the wide field it opened for analogy and 
illustration ; giving them thus, on every subject, a larger 
view and a broader range, as well for discussion as for the 
government of their own conduct. 

59. Literature sometimes disgusts, and pretension to it 
much oftener disgusts, by appearing to hang loosely on the 
character, like something foreign or extraneous, not a part, 
but an ill-adjusted appendage ; or by seeming to overload 
and weigh it down by its unsightly bulk, like the produc- 
tions of bad taste in architecture, where there is massy and 
cumbrous ornament without strength or solidity of column. 
This has exposed learning, and especially classical learning, 
to reproach. Men have seen that it might exist without 
mental superiority, without vigor, without good taste, and 
without utility. But in such cases classical learning has 
only not inspired natural talent ; or, at most, it has but 
made original feebleness of intellect, and natural bluntness 
of perception, something more conspicuous. The question, 
after all, if it he a question, is, M'hether literature, ancient as 
well as modern, does not assist a good understanding, im- 
prove natural good taste, add polished armor to native 
strength, and render its possessor, not only more capable of 



42 ADAMS A ND« JEFFERSON. 

deriving private happiness from contemplation and reflec- 
tion, but more accomplislied also for action in the affairs of 
life, and especially for public action. Those whose memories 
we now honor were learned men ; but their learning was 
kept in its proper place, and made subservient to the uses 
and objects of life. They were scholars, not common nor 
superficial ; but their scholarship was so in keeping with 
their character, so blended and inwrought, that careless 
observers, or bad judges, not seeing an ostentatious display 
of it, might infer that it did not exist ; forgetting, or not 
knowing, that classical learning in men who act in con- 
spicuous public stations, perform duties which exercise the 
faculty of writing, or address popular, deliberative, or 
judicial bodies, is often felt where it is little seen, and some- 
times felt more effectually because it is not seen at all. 

60. But the cause of knowledge, in a more enlarged sense, 
the cause of general knowledge and of popular education, 
had no warmer friends, nor more powerful advocates, than 
Mr. Adams and Mr. Jefferson. On this foundation they 
knew the whole republican system rested ; and this great 
and all-important truth they strove to impress, by all the 
means in their power. In the early publication already 
referred to, Mr. Adams expresses the strong and just senti- 
ment, that the education of the poor is more important, 
even to the rich themselves, than all their own riches. On 
this great truth, indeed, is founded that unrivaled, that 
invaluable political and moral institution, our own blessing 
and the glory of our fathers, the New England system of 
free schools. 

61. Mr. Adams and Mr. Jefferson, fellow-citizens, were 
successively Presidents of the United States. The compara- 
tive merits of their respective administration for a long time 
agitated and divided public opinion. They were rivals, each 
supported by numerous and powerful portions of the people, 
for the highest office. This contest, partly the cause and 
partly the consequence of the long existence of two great 
political parties in the country, is now part of the history of 
our government. We may naturally regret that anything 



ADAMS AND JEFFERSON. 43 

should have occurred to create difference and discord be- 
tween those wlio had acted liarmoniously and efficiently in 
the great concerns of the Revolution. But this is not the 
time, nor this the occasion, for entering into the grounds of 
that difference, or for attempting to discuss the merits of the 
questions which it involves. As practical questions, they 
were canvassed when the measures which they regarded 
were acted on and adopted ; and as belonging to history, 
the time has not come for their consideration. 

62. It is, perhaps, not wonderful, that, when the Consti- 
tution of the United States first went into operation, differ- 
ent opinions should be entertained as to the extent of the 
powers conferred by it. Here was a natural source of diver- 
sity of sentiment. It is still less wonderful, that that 
event, nearly contemporary with our government under the 
present Constitution, which so entirely shocked all Europe, 
and disturbed our relations with her leading powers, should 
be thought, by diflferent men, to have different bearings on 
our own prosperity ; and that the early measures adopted 
by the government of tne United States, in consequence of 
this new state of things, should be seen in opposite lights. 
It is for the future historian, when what now remains of 
prejudice and misconception shall have passed away, to 
state these different opinions, and pronounce impartial 
judgment. In the mean time, all good men rejoice, and 
well may rejoice, that the sharpest diflerences sprung out of 
measures which, whether right or wrong, have ceased with 
the exigencies that gave them birth, and have left no per- 
manent effect, either on the Constitution or on the general 
prosperity of the country. This remark, I am aware, may 
be supposed to have its exception in one measure, the 
alteration of the Constitution as to the mode of choosing 
President ; but it is true in its general application. Thus 
the course of policy pursued towards France in 1798, on the 
one hand, and the measures of commercial restriction com- 
menced in 1807, on the other, both subjects of warm and 
severe opposition, have passed away and left nothing behind 
them. They were temporary, and, whether wise or unwise, 



44 ADAMS AND JEFFEESON. 

their consequences were limited to tlieir respective occasions. 
It is equally clear, at the same time, and it is equally grat- 
ifying, that those measures of both administrations which 
were of durable importance, and which drew after them 
momentous and long remaining consequences, have received 
general approbation. Such was the organization, or rather 
the creation, of the navy, in the administration of Mr. 
Adams ; such the acquisition of Louisiana in that of Mr. 
Jefferson. The country, it may safely be added, is not likely 
to be willing either to approve, or to reprobate, indiscrimi- 
nately, and in the aggregate, all the measures of either, or 
of any, administration. The dictate of reason and of justice 
is, that, holding each one his own sentiments on the points 
of difference, we imitate the great men themselves in the 
forbearance and moderation which they have cherished, and 
in the mutual respect and kindness which they have been 
so much inclined to feel and to reciprocate. 

63. No men, fellow-citizens, ever served their country 
with more entire exemption from every imputation of selfish 
and mercenary motives, than those to whose memory we 
are paying these proofs of respect. A suspicion of any dis- 
position to enrich themselves or to profit by their public 
employments, never rested on either. No sordid motive 
approached them. The inheritance which they have left to 
their children is of their character and their fame. 

64. Fellow-citizens, I will detain j^ou no longer by this 
faint and feeble tribute to the memory of the illustrious 
dead. Even in other hands, adequate justice could not be 
done to them, within the limits of this occasion. Their 
highest, their best i^raise, is your deep conviction of their 
merits, your affectionate gratitude for their labors and their 
services. It is not my voice, it is this cessation of ordinary 
pursuits, this arresting of all attention, these solemn cere- 
monies, and this crowded house, which speak their eulogy. 
Their fame, indeed, is safe. That is now treasured up be- 
yond the reach of accident. Although no sculptured marble 
should rise to their memory, nor engraved stone bear record 
of their deeds, yet will their remembrance be as lasting as 



ADAMS A^^D JEFFERSON. 45 

the land they honored. Marble columns may, indeed, 
moulder into dust, time may erase all impress from the 
crumbling stone, but their fame remains ; for with Ameri- 
can liberty it rose, and with American liberty only can it 
perish. It was the last swelling peal of yonder choir, 
"Their bodies are buried in peace, but their name liveth 
evermore."" I catch that solemn song, I echo that lofty strain 
of funeral triumph, " Their name liveth evermore." 

65. And now, fellow-citizens, let us not retire from this 
occasion without a deep and solemn conviction of the duties 
which have devolved upon us. This lovely land, this 
glorious liberty, these benign institutions, the dear purchase 
of our fathers, are ours ; ours to enjoy, ours to preserve, ours 
to transmit. Generations past and generations to come hold 
us responsible for this sacred trust. Our fathers, from be- 
hind, admonish us, with their anxious paternal voices ; 
posterity calls out to us, from the bosom of the future ; the 
world turns hither its solicitous eyes ; all, all conjure us to 
act wisely, and fiiithfully, in the relation which we sustain. 
We can never, indeed, pay the debt which is upon us ; but 
by virtue, by morality, by religion, by the cultivation of 
every good principle and every good habit, we may hope to 
enjoy the blessing, through our day, and to leave it unim- 
paired to our children. Let us feel deeply how much of 
what we are and of what we possess we owe to this libertj^, 
and to these institutions of government. Nature has, indeed, 
given us a soil which yields bounteously to the hand of in- 
dustry, the miglity and fruitful ocean is before us, and the 
skies over our heads shed health and vigor. But what are 
lands, and seas, and skies, to civilized man, without society', 
without knowledge, without morals, without religious cul- 
ture ; and how can these be enjoyed, in all their extent and 
all their excellence, but under the protection of wise insti- 
tutions and a free government? Fellow-citizens, there is 
not one of us, there is not one of us here present, who 
does not, at this moment, and at every moment, experience, 
in his own condition, and in the condition of those most 
near and dear to him, the influence and the benefits of this 



46 ADAMS AND* JEFFERSON. 

liberty and these institutions. Let us then acknowledge the 
blessing, let us feel it deeply and powerfully, let us cherish 
a strong affection for it, and resolve to maintain and per- 
petuate it. The blood of our fathers, let it not have been 
shed in vain ; the great hope of posterity, let it not be 
blasted. 

66. The striking attitude, too, in which we stand to the 
world around us, a topic to which, I fear, I advert too often, 
and dwell on too long, can not be altogether omitted here. 
Neither individuals nor nations can perform their part well, 
until they understand and feel its importance, and compre- 
hend and justly appreciate all the duties belonging to it. It 
is not to inflate national vanity, nor to swell a light and 
empty feeling of self-importance, but it is that we may judge 
justly of our situation, and of our own duties, that I 
earnestly urge upon you this consideration of our position 
and our character among the nations of the earth. It can 
not be denied, but by those who would dispute against the 
sun, that with America, and in America, a new era com- 
mences in human affairs. This era is distinguished by free 
representative governments, by entire religious liberty, by 
improved systems of national intercourse, by a newly 
awakened and an unconquerable spirit of free inquiry, ancj 
by a diffusion of knowledge through the community, such 
as has been before altogether unknown and unheard of. 
America, America, our country, fellow-citizens, our own 
dear and native land, is inseparably connected, fast bound 
up, in fortune and by fate, with these great interests. If 
they fall, we fall with them ; if they stand, it will be 
because we have maintained them. Let us contemplate, 
then, this connection, which binds the prosperity of others 
to our own ; and let us manfully discharge all the duties 
which it imposes. If we cherish the virtues and the 
principles of our fathers, Heaven will assist us to carry on 
the work of human liberty and human happiness. 
Auspicious omens cheer us. Great examples are before us. 
Our own firmament now shines brightly upon our path. 
Washington is in the clear, upper sky. These other stars 



ADAMS AXP JEFFER80X. 47 

have now joined the American constellation ; they circle 
round their center, and the heavens beam with new light. 
Beneath this illumination let us walk the course of life, and 
at its close devoutly commend our beloved country, the 
conunon parent of us all, to the Divine Benignity. 



TEST QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW. 



1. Who was Daniel Webster? 

2. Where and when was he born ? 

3. What can yon say of his fatlier and motlier ? 

4. Tell something about Webster's boyhood days in the wilds of New 
Hampshire. 

5. What can you tell of his early love for books? 

6. Illustrate by what he afterwards told of his committing portions 
of Pope, Addison and other English classic authors to memory. 

7. What have you learned of Webster's early school life? 

8. Why were his opportunities so very meagre ? 

9. Tell what you can of his brother Ezekiel. 

10. Can you give the often-quoted story of the plea for the life of a 
woodehuck, made by the two brothers? 

11. To what famous school was Daniel sent at an early age? 

12. What peculiar timidity did the future orator show at this school ? 

13. Repeat from memory what he said about it. 

14. What other great orators have showed a similar weakness in early 
life? 

15. What college did Webster fit for and attend ? 

16. What have you read of his college career ? 

17. What local fame did he acquire at college? 

18. What did he do first after graduation ? 

19. What did he do with his first savings ? 

20. Tell something about Ezekiel Webster's untimely death. 

21. What opinion did Webster always cherish of his brother's talents ? 

22. What profession did Daniel adopt? 

23. Where did he first settle, and with what success? 

24. What otficial position was he offered ? 

25. Was this a turning point in his career, and why ? 

26. What can you say of his father's disappointment? 

27. Explain how a few years showed that the future orator decided 
wisely. 

28. What was his first entrance to a political career? 

29. What great fame did he now rapidly gain? 

30. Mention the political positions filled by hina during his life. 

31. What can you say of his fame as a great lawyer, as a great orator, 
and as a great statesman ? 

32. Tell what you can of one or more of his great legal cases. 

33. Mention the circumstances attending the delivery of three or more 
of his great orations. 

34. What were some of the most noteworthy things done by him as a 
statesman ? 

35. Describe Daniel Webster's personal appearance. 

36. To what extent did it help his oratory? 

37. What were some of his most marked personal characteristics ? 

38. What was the great disappointment of his life? 

39. Did it hasten his death ? 

40. When and where did Daniel Webster die? 

41. What can you say of his last days ? 

42. What were the marked characteristics of his oratory? 

43. How will Webster compare with other great orators of this or any 
other great country ? Explain in some detail. 



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1 Byron's Prophecy of Dante. 

(Cantos I. and IX / 

2 Milton's L' Allegro and II Penseroso. 

3 Lord Bacoa's Essays.Civil and Moral. 

(Selected.) 

4 Byron's Prisoner of Chillon. 

5 Moore's Fire - Worshippers (Lalla 

Rookh. Selected from Parts I. and II.) 

6 Goldsmith's Deserted Vill-age. 

7 Scott's Marmion. (Selections from 

Canto VI.) 

8 Scott's Lay of the Last Minstrel. 

(Introduction and Canto I.) 

9 Burns' Cotter's Saturday Night, and 

Other Poems. 

10 Crabbe's The Village. 

11 Campbell's Pleasures of Hope. 

(Abridgment of Part I.) 

12 Macaulay's i^ lays on Bunyan's Pil- 

grim's Progress. [Poems. 

13 Macaulay's Armada, and other 

14 Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice. 

(Selections from Acts I., III. and IV.) 

15 Goldsmith's Traveller. 

16 Hogg's Queen's Wake. 

17 Coleridge's Ancient Mariner. 

18 Addison's Sir Roger de Coverley. 

19 Gray's Elegy in a Country Church- 

yard. 

20 Scott's Lady of the Lake. (Canto I.) 

21 Shakespeare's As You Like It, etc. 

(Selections.) 

22 Shakespeare's King John and King 

Eichard II. (Selections.) 

23 Shakespeare's King Henry IV., 

Henry V., Henry VE. (Selections.) 

24 Shakespeare's Henry VIII. and 

Julius Csesar. (Selections.) 

25 Wordsworth's Excursion. (Book I.) 



26 Pope's Essay on Criticism 

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27 Spenser's Faerie Queene. Cantos lil 

and II.) 

28 Cowper's Task. (Book I.) 

29 Milton's Comus. 

30 Tennyson's Enoch Arden. 

31 Irving's Sketch Book. (Selections.) 

32 Dickens' Christmas Carol. 

(Condensed.) ; 

33 Carlyle's Hero as a Prophet. 

34 Macaulay's Warren Hastings. 

(Condensed.) j 

35 Goldsmith's Vicar of Wakefield. 

(Condensed.) ,1 

36 Tennyson's The Two Voices and A' 

Dream of Fair Women. 

37 Memory Quotatiors. For use in High 

Schools and upper classes of Grammar 
Schools. 1 

38 Cavalier Poets. ! 

39 Dryden's Alexander's Feast andp 

MacFleknoe. 

40 Keats' The Eve of St. Agnes. 

41 Irving's Legend of Sleepy Hollow. 

42 Lamb's Tales from Shakespeare. 

43 Le Row's How to Teach Reading. 

The author of this manual has had 
long and successful experience in 
teaching this subject. 

44 Webster's Bunker Hill Orations. 

45 The Academy Orthoepist. a Manual 

of Pronunci;itioii for u^e in the School- ■ 
room, including a special list of proper i 
names of frequent occurrence in litera- 
ture, science and art. 

46 Milton's Lycidas, and Hymn on the , 

Nativity- [Poems. 

47 Bryant's Thanatopsis, and other 

48 Ruskins Modern Painters. 

49 The Shakespeare Speaker. Selections 

from Shakespeare for declamation. 

50 Thackeray's Roundabout Papers, 

51 Webster's Adams and Jefferson 
[Oration. 



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